In the mid-2000s, the Patrol Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia underwent a radical transformation. In 2005, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili fired "the entire traffic police force" of the Georgian National Police due to corruption,[2] numbering around 30,000 police officers.[3]

A new force was built around new recruits.[2] The United States State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law-Enforcement Affairs has provided assistance to the training efforts.[4] Patruli was first introduced in the summer of 2005 replacing the traffic police, which were accused of corruption.[5]